A record number of Californians are registered to vote

Three-fourths of those eligible are on the rolls. Democratic registration has increased overall and Republican sign-ups have declined.

SACRAMENTO — State officials reported Friday that 18,245,970 California residents, or 76.7% of those eligible, are registered to vote.

"Seeing a record number of Californians registered to vote is wonderful, but there are still too many eligible people skipping the electoral process altogether," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who released the tally of those registered by the Oct. 22 deadline.

Democratic registration increased overall and Republican sign-ups declined. A surge in registration during the last 45 days tilted toward the Democratic Party and voters without a party preference.

On Sept. 7, the last time the state reported the voter rolls, 43.33% of California voters were Democrats, 30.11% were Republicans and 27% declined to state a party affiliation or registered with other parties.

Now, Democrats are 43.66% of voters and Republicans 29.36%. Nonpartisans or other-party categories make up the rest of the registrants.

This year for the first time, Californians could register online. According to county data analyzed by Political Data Inc., a bipartisan company, at least 780,688 people registered online. More than 61% of those were younger than 35.